A Libyan town comes together to make a beloved Ramadan dish

A Libyan town comes together to make a beloved Ramadan dish
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Volunteers prepare Bazin, traditional Libyan dough bread made of barley or whole wheat flour and often served with stew in Tajoura, east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, Mar. 11, 2025, during Ramadan. (AP)
A Libyan town comes together to make a beloved Ramadan dish
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Volunteers serve traditional unleavened Libyan bread made out of barley in Tajoura, east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, Mar. 11, 2025, during Ramadan. (AP)
A Libyan town comes together to make a beloved Ramadan dish
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Libyan volunteers mixes the products to make traditional unleavened Libyan bread made out of barley in Tajoura, east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, Mar. 11, 2025, during the holy month of Ramadan. (AP)
A Libyan town comes together to make a beloved Ramadan dish
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A Libyan volunteer shows a just made traditional unleavened Libyan bread made out of barley in Tajoura, east of Libya’s capital Tripoli, Mar. 11, 2025, during Ramadan. (AP)
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Updated 14 March 2025
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A Libyan town comes together to make a beloved Ramadan dish

A Libyan town comes together to make a beloved Ramadan dish
  • In Tajoura, just east of Libya ‘s capital of Tripoli, it’s the perfect food for iftar
  • Tajoura residents of all ages are eager to help with roles from making the bread

TRIPOLI: Every year during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a Libyan town comes together to prepare — and share — one of their all-time favorite dishes: bazin.
In Tajoura, just east of Libya ‘s capital of Tripoli, it’s the perfect food for iftar, the evening meal when Muslims break the dawn-to-dusk fasting of Ramadan.
Savory and rich, bazin is usually made of unleavened barley flour and served with a rich stew full of vegetables and — hopefully — mutton. If those aren’t available, which they often haven’t been in the past decade and a half due to Libya’s violence and turmoil, a simple tomato sauce will do.
Preparing it is a joint effort, and Tajoura residents of all ages are eager to help with roles from making the bread, handing it out to the poor or donating ingredients to the community.
Typically, the men of Tajoura volunteer to make the bread in a makeshift communal kitchen, using long wooden sticks to stir the barley flour water in large pots to make the dough.
Others then knead the dough, shaping it into large clumps that look a bit like giant dumplings, to be baked or steamed. Once ready, other volunteers hand out bazin to a people lined up outside, who eagerly wait to take it home for iftar.
Ramadan is a time of intense prayers, charity and spirituality.
And in Tajoura, it’s also time for bazin.
This photo gallery by Yousef Murad was curated by Amr Nabil in Cairo.


Iran’s president visits site of port blast that killed 28

Iran’s president visits site of port blast that killed 28
Updated 17 sec ago
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Iran’s president visits site of port blast that killed 28

Iran’s president visits site of port blast that killed 28
  • The explosion ripped through the port as Iranian and US delegations were meeting in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear program
  • While Iranian authorities appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it also comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with Israel

TEHRAN: Iran’s president visited on Sunday the scene of a massive port blast that killed 28 people and injured more than 1,000, as fires still blazed more than 24 hours after the explosion.
The blast occurred on Saturday at Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of world oil output passes.
With choking smoke and air pollution spreading throughout the area, all schools and offices in Bandar Abbas, the nearby capital of Hormozgan province, were ordered closed on Sunday to allow authorities to focus on the emergency effort, state TV said.
The health ministry urged residents to avoid going outside “until further notice” and to use protective masks.
Arriving in Bandar Abbas, President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed his appreciation to first responders, adding “we have come to see first-hand if there is anything or any issue that the government can follow up on.”
“We will try to take care of the families who lost their loved ones, and we will definitely take care of the dear people who got injured,” he said.
Pezeshkian had previously ordered an investigation into the cause of the blast.
Russia’s embassy said Moscow was sending multiple “aircraft carrying specialists” to help fight the blaze. According to Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, one of the aircraft is a dedicated firefighting plane.
The New York Times quoted a person with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, as saying that what exploded was sodium perchlorate — a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.
Defense ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik later told state TV that “there has been no imported or exported cargo for military fuel or military use in the area.”
The port’s customs office said in a statement carried by state television that the explosion probably resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot.
A regional emergency official said several containers had exploded.
Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand, in a video shared on the government’s official website, gave an updated toll on Sunday of 28 people killed and more than 1,000 injured.
The ISNA news agency, citing the provincial judiciary, gave a higher toll of 1,242 injured and also put the number of dead at 28.
Koolivand said some of the injured were airlifted for treatment in the capital Tehran.
Thick black smoke was still visible in live footage from the scene aired by state TV on Sunday.
“The fire is under control but still not out,” a state TV correspondent reported from the scene.
The explosion was felt and heard about 50 kilometers away, Fars news agency reported.
Also at the scene on Sunday, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said “the situation has stabilized in the main areas” of the port, and workers had resumed loading containers and customs clearance.
Another official on site, Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh, said only one zone of the port was impacted, and cargo “operations are still continuing as normal in the several other zones.”
An image from Iran’s Tasnim news agency on Sunday showed a helicopter flying through a sky blackened by smoke to drop water on the disaster-struck area.
Others showed firefighters working among toppled and blackened cargo containers, and carrying out the body of a victim.
The authorities have closed off the roads leading to the site, and footage from the area has been limited to Iranian media outlets.
Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement to AFP on Sunday that three Chinese victims were in a “stable” condition.
The United Arab Emirates expressed “solidarity with Iran” over the explosion and Saudi Arabia sent condolences, as did Pakistan, India, Turkiye and the United Nations as well as Russia.
The Tehran-backed Lebanese movement Hezbollah also offered condolences, saying Iran, with its “faith and solid will, can overcome this tragic accident.”
In the first reaction from a major European country, the German embassy in Tehran said on Instagram: “Bandar Abbas we grieve with you.”
Authorities declared a day of national mourning on Monday, and three days of mourning in Hormozgan province from Sunday.
The explosion ripped through the port as Iranian and US delegations were meeting in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, with both sides reporting progress afterwards.
While Iranian authorities so far appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it also comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with regional foe Israel.
According to the Washington Post, Israel in 2020 launched a cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee Port.


Jordanian government spokesperson says country remains firmly supportive of Palestine

Jordanian government spokesperson says country remains firmly supportive of Palestine
Updated 22 min 5 sec ago
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Jordanian government spokesperson says country remains firmly supportive of Palestine

Jordanian government spokesperson says country remains firmly supportive of Palestine
  • Mohammad Momani affirms that Jordan backs self-determination of Palestinians
  • Remarks made during seminar commemorating 105th anniversary of martyrdom of Kaid Al-Mefleh Obeidat

LONDON: Minister of Communication Mohammad Momani has said that Jordan’s commitment to “defending” Palestinian rights in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza “remains firm.”

Momani, who is also the spokesperson for the Jordanian government, said that the country supported the right of Palestinians to self-determination, and the establishment of an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

His remarks were made on Saturday during a seminar commemorating the 105th anniversary of the martyrdom of Kaid Al-Mefleh Obeidat. He is remembered as a national hero after being the first Jordanian to lose his life in resisting Zionist groups during the British mandate in Palestine in 1920.

Momani said: “Supporting the Palestinian cause should not come at the expense of Jordan’s national stability but should be expressed through unity behind the Hashemite leadership, the Arab army, and the security agencies.”

He added that “Obeidat’s martyrdom … highlights Jordan’s long-standing sacrifices for Arab unity and freedom,” the Jordan News Agency reported.

Momani said that Jordan’s support resulted from its religious, moral, and humanitarian obligations and that a Palestinian state was vital to Jordan’s national interests, according to Petra.

He said that King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Hussein continued “to champion the Palestinian cause, maintaining Jordan as a bastion of steadfastness amid regional upheavals.”


Qatari emir, Turkish FM discuss Syria, Gaza in Doha

Qatari emir, Turkish FM discuss Syria, Gaza in Doha
Updated 50 min 35 sec ago
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Qatari emir, Turkish FM discuss Syria, Gaza in Doha

Qatari emir, Turkish FM discuss Syria, Gaza in Doha
  • Hakan Fidan meets Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at Lusail Palace

LONDON: Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani received the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan at Lusail Palace in Doha on Sunday.

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed significant regional and international developments, especially those concerning Gaza, the Palestinian territories, and Syria.

Sheikh Tamim and Fidan reviewed strategic relations between Doha and Ankara, as well as ways to strengthen and develop ties, the Qatar News Agency reported.


Israeli settlers vandalize Palestinian Zanouta School in south Hebron

Israeli settlers vandalize Palestinian Zanouta School in south Hebron
Updated 27 April 2025
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Israeli settlers vandalize Palestinian Zanouta School in south Hebron

Israeli settlers vandalize Palestinian Zanouta School in south Hebron
  • Zanouta is a small village east of Al-Dhahiriya, with nearly 150 people
  • Residents had just completed restoration work to prepare for pupils’ return when the attack occurred on Sunday

LONDON: Israeli settlers vandalized a Palestinian school near Hebron in the occupied West Bank after residents completed renovation for pupils’ return.

Fayez Al-Tal, the head of the Zanouta Village Council, said that the village school was destroyed by Israeli settlers who, early on Sunday, broke into the premises and “looted” the iron doors, wooden panels, and classroom dividers, according to Wafa news agency.

Zanouta is a small village east of Al-Dhahiriya, with nearly 150 people. Most of the 27 families there work as shepherds and some residents live in naturally formed caves. Israeli settlers have repeatedly demolished the village school, but the residents have rebuilt it each time.

Al-Tal said that residents and the local council had just completed restoration work to prepare for pupils’ return when the attack occurred on Sunday. He said that settlers “repeatedly attacked the village, destroyed homes, and forcibly displaced residents through violence and property destruction.”

In November 2023, Israeli settlers set fire to and destroyed the Zanouta Coeducational Primary School. Additionally, on Oct. 28, 2023, residents were forced to abandon their homes because of relentless Israeli attacks, which were overshadowed by the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

After being displaced for nine months, villagers received an Israeli court order in August 2024 to return to Zanouta. Israeli settler attacks, however, continue, Wafa reported.


Qatar PM sees some progress on Gaza truce

Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks during press conference.
Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks during press conference.
Updated 27 April 2025
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Qatar PM sees some progress on Gaza truce

Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks during press conference.
  • “We need to find an answer for the ultimate question: how to end this war,” Sheikh Mohammed said
  • PM met with Barnea in the Qatari capital to discuss a potential hostage deal on Thursday, Israeli media said

DOHA: Gaza mediator Qatar said Sunday there was some progress in talks in Doha this week aimed at securing a new truce in the Israel-Hamas war.
Speaking at a news conference, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani reported “a bit of progress,” in response to questions about reports of a Thursday meeting in Doha between Israel’s Mossad spy agency chief David Barnea and the Qatari prime minister.
“We need to find an answer for the ultimate question: how to end this war. That’s, that’s basically, I think, the key point of the entire negotiations,” Sheikh Mohammed added.
Qatar, alongside Egypt and the United States, brokered a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza which came into effect on January 19 but which did not bring a complete end to the war.
The initial phase of the truce ended in early March, with the two sides unable to agree on the next steps. Israel resumed air and ground attacks across the Gaza Strip on March 18 after earlier halting the entry of aid.
Sheikh Mohammed met with Barnea in the Qatari capital to discuss a potential hostage deal on Thursday, according to Israeli media.
“The meeting that took place on Thursday is part of these efforts where we’re trying to find a breakthrough,” the Qatari prime minister said without further elaborating on the details of the meeting.
Hamas is open to an agreement to end the war in Gaza that would see all hostages released and secure a five-year truce, an official told AFP on Saturday as the group’s negotiators met in Cairo.
The Qatari PM said efforts were focused on the “best comprehensive deal possible that ends the war, brings the hostages out and not dividing (a deal) into other phases.”
Hamas has insisted that the negotiations should lead to a permanent end to the war.
According to the Palestinian group, it rejected an earlier Israeli offer that included a 45-day ceasefire in exchange for the return of 10 living hostages.